‘Mac Ransomware’ is no Virus, its just a Browser Pop-up

Every user of Mac PC are relieved that the OS is free from viruses and malwares. They believe that there are not many viruses that targets Apple OS. Most viruses are made to hit Windows. People go on thinking like this. But recently its been proved that security of a system is not based on their operating system but is based on Knowledge. Malware named ‘Ransomware’ started troubling users of Apple Mac a couple of years can be looked at this angle. Most of the users of Apple Mac thought that it was a virus, but in real its just a browser pop-up. In short, users need not worry much about Ransomware.

How Ransomware tricked Users

Lets see how ransomware troubled Mac users. Users used to browse through websites as usual. During this browsing, you accidently click on some ads or you may click on certain ads to claim free tickets to a particular movie or just wanted to participate in some puzzle games or something like that. Whatever you do you finally reaches a page showing as if you have been directed to the page of FBI and it tags like this “your browser has been locked”. When you further read the content you may find statements saying that you have accessed something prohibited.

The page also says that your PC has been locked up and if you want to unlock it you have to pay an amount as fine. Most of us thinks that how stupid is this? Does FBI monitors all these stuff? After closing the above said tab, next annoying thing is a pop up dialogue box. It says that your browser has been locked. It also says that certain criminal procedures will be initiated against you. You may just laugh and closes the pop up. You will find that it comes up every time, you try to close it. You may finally end up in force quitting the browser. But when you restart it again, you will again confront with the same pop up, this will certainly annoy you.

Is this a Virus?

According to Safe Mac’s Thomas Reed, this is not a Mac malware. He says that its just a browser pop up displayed with the help of JavaScript to fool users and make them pay money. But all the tech articles quoted it as a malware or virus that affected Mac PCs badly. He added that some people made their payments thinking that this is really the FBI. He asks that if this is simply a virus then why the issue can’t be solved by an antivirus. So he clearly states that this Ransomware is not a virus or malware.

How can you get rid of it?

Don’t get so worried about Ransomware. the solution to get rid of this problem is just as simple as blinking your eyes. Just close or force quit your browser. Then restart it again without restoring the respective tabs. It is as simple as that.

In Safari: Click on Apple logo and then select Safari from the pop up window and select Force Quit from it. This will shut down Safari without the problem of this annoying pop up dialogue. But if you still try to start Safari again, it will restore the pop-ups. The solution is Just hold down Shift while starting Safari. This will open up Safari without restoring old tabs that you are browsing.

In Chrome: After Force quitting chrome and when you try to restart it, you may see the message that, ‘Chrome didn’t shut down correctly’ along with a button to restore. But do not try to restore the earlier session if you want to continue browsing.

In Firefox: Firefox seems to be little tricky. In Firefox you have to go to go to Preferences and change the settings of When Firefox Starts to Show a blank Page. When you restart the browser you can see a new blank page to browse.

Try CCleaner if everything else fails: If the above things didn’t work for the browsers, then the only available option is to empty up cache and history of browser. This could be made possible with the help of freeware named CCleaner. It will wipe out entire data on the browser. It can be downloaded without any cost associated.

Knowledge can save you

Many of the Mac users may be tricked by Ransomware and many ended up paying money under fear. The wisest way to get rid of such cheatings is to know about these tricks. There is an article available on internet explaining deatails and more authentic information about Ransomware. The company also asks its users to subscribe to ‘The Safe Mac’, to get updates on potential threats.

Young IT professional and technology aspirant. Born in Information age loves to observe the intellectual and dynamic changes in the digital world. I do like to deliver my own perspectives to the tech lovers all around the world. of course you can rely on it.